Can’t believe how long it’s been since my last post… Lots happened last year, and the car had been put on the back burner, but I’ve been getting back into it lately.
I had both seatbelts redone by willshire motor trimmers here in Adelaide. It was about $20 more per belt to have the originals redone compared to buying aftermarket replacements. I opted for this so I didn’t need to go about making brackets for aftermarket belts. Both still retract well.
The high beams were an easy fix. One of the contacts was not reaching its point anymore. I cleaned them all and bent the bad one slightly so that it would contact when required. Fixed.
The car began having intermittent starting issues. I ended up finding one of the wires on the distributor plug had backed out and wasn’t contacting the other side. This took some time to figure out as the wires looked seated in the connector.
The car went through for its inspection in August and passed. I was pretty nervous, and I probably went a bit extreme on getting it as tidy and stock as possible, but hey… it was a good outcome! The inspector was so relaxed and genuinely loved cars, I was the last person of the day and we ended up talking cars for a little while which was good fun!
So with the defect cleared, let the fun begin… again!
I got all the turbo gear back on and running, although it was running rough. I ended up finding the earth wire for the map sensor had come loose on the ecu plugs. I fixed that, but it was still running poorly. I then tried a spare map sensor and that issue was sorted 
Repinning into new connector
I was pretty stoked to have the car running again with the turbo setup back on it. It’s been a couple years!
Now, I have had parts to do a 4x100 conversion for a couple years, so with the car now defect free, on it all goes.
Most would know what parts go into the 4x100 swap as many have done it now. The only trouble I had was I bought aftermarket driveshafts which had 20 spline shafts. The internal cup for the jackshaft needs a 19 spline shaft. I was able to return the aftermarket one and found a second hand one from a l251 that I reconditioned. I also opted for m300 sirion front callipers as they share the same pad as copens, so more performance pad options!
Sirion drums on the back instead of going rear disk setup. I’ve seen most report that the handbrake didn’t work well after using applause rear disks. I wanted to keep a good working handbrake. Also I don’t think rear discs will be necessary for me.
Changing the stud pattern meant new wheels were needed. I picked up some 15x5 +45 enkei wheels, originally fitted to a Suzuki Ignis Sport. They are a good looking wheel and seem relatively lightweight. I have wanted a set of these for the car ever since I thought about doing the 4x100 swap, so I was pretty excited when I saw a set come up for sale!
I’m quite happy with how the car is progressing. I’m just wanting to use it to take to the odd weekend meet, track day and hill climb event.
I’m currently waiting to hear back about some tyres, and waiting for my winmax pads to arrive from compact motorsport.
Once I have those items I can get the car aligned and enjoy it again! I’m excited to see what it’s like with the better brakes and suspension. Once I’ve got the last few bits and have had a few drives I’ll be sure to report back. Thanks to anyone who is still tuning into this thread!
but good to hear you enjoyed their performance on track!
